


Let It Burn

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Yugioh Advent 2018 [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Comfort, Comfort No Hurt, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Nightmares, Yami Yuugi | Atem has his own body, yugioh advent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 12:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16810282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: When Yugi woke, he was alone...That couldn't be good





	Let It Burn

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1 of the Yu-Gi-Oh Advent Calendar 2018
> 
> These will all be Puzzleshipping since my other December YGO challenge is Prideshipping <3

When Yugi woke, he was alone

...

That couldn't be good

Sitting up slowly and rubbing his eyes, he glanced down at the crack under the door, hoping to see the hall light on

It wasn't

Frowning worriedly, he slowly slid out of bed, sliding his slippers on and creeping out of the room

He could faintly see the light of the TV coming from downstairs, if he really strained, he could hear something on, though he definitely couldn't identify what

He pressed a hand against the wall, guiding him in the darkness as he walked, jumping just slightly when he felt the dog brush up against his leg, reaching down to pick her up and carrying her downstairs in silence

Surely enough, once he got to the living room, he could make out the form of his lover, sitting on the couch with the TV on, the volume barely loud enough for even Yugi to hear- though, it was probably fine for Atem, his hearing was sensitive on a good day, drastically oversensitive on a bad

"Atem?" he called quietly, setting the dog down so that she could go ahead of him, attract his attention in case he was... out of it... without worrying about spooking him

"Atem? Sweetheart?" Yugi called again, a bit louder this time as he approached, the dog jumping onto the couch with her tail wagging and instantly bouncing over to where Atem was sitting

The pharaoh's hand came up to absently scratch behind her ears as he glanced over his shoulder, a small frown on his face

"Ah... Yugi, I apologize, did I wake you?"

Well, atleast he seemed himself

Since coming back to the land of the living, having his own body, being alive again...

Alot was different now, Atem's body was brand new in alot of ways, wich meant he was prone to alot of sensitivities he hadn't been before- bright lights, loud noises, strong tastes...

On top of that, he was only now experiencing the modern world firsthand, when he had shared Yugi's body, all of his senses were dulled, muted, as if he were experiencing things through glass or underwater, things like car alarms and loud movies that hadn't existed when he was alive last didn't bother him

That wasn't the case anymore

But sensitivities weren't the only things that had changed, Atem at times had problems dissociating, not being able to connect with his body, Yugi wasn't sure yet if it was an actual physical problem, not being able to maintain his spiritual connection to his new flesh at all times, or if it was a mental disorder, caused from so many centuries of not having a body to connect to

It didn't matter, really, wich it was

It existed, he doubted there was anything that would flat out cure it, but he didn't care

He would help his partner manage these things for the rest of eternity- gladly so- if it meant getting to keep him

Still.... there did come some nasty habbits with it, this being one of them

"No no, you didn't wake me, I woke on my own," he promised with a gentle smile, crossing the rest of the way and wrapping his arms around Atem's shoulders, laying a sweet kiss to his cheek

"I noticed you weren't there, when I woke up, so I came looking,"

"Ah.. I'm sorry aibou, next time I-"

"Next time you'll wake me up, you know I don't like you dealing with this stuff on your own, I don't mind losing a little sleep over it," he promised sternly, moving one hand up to drag lazily through the pharaoh's hair

Atem was selfless to a truly awfull degree, he'd rather burn himself alive than allow Yugi to so much as get a little warm

It may sound like a sweet trait, but sometimes it scared the life out of him

Truthfully, Yugi didn't know anymore just how far Atem would take that rotten little habbit of his

Would his fear of bothering his lover someday cause him to do something reckless during a particularly bad self-loathing episode, like walk away in the middle of the night? Or... worse?

Would his desperation to use himself as the sacrificial lamb for everything and not let Yugi get so much as a scratch someday- worryingly, sooner rather than later- cause him to lunge ino death once again, ripping himself out of Yugi's arms a second time?

Ahh...

He had heartburn just thinking about it...

"Y-Yugi... you're squeezing me... not that I'm complaining but.. are you alright?"

He blinked, glancing down at Atem's soft, worried face, and leaning down to give him another kiss

"I'm fine, are _you_ ok? What was it this time, another nightmare?" he guessed

The pharaoh shifted a little, his eyes trained on the TV in silence

That was the only confirmation Yugi needed

"It's ok, you know... I have them too,"

"I couldn't go back to sleep," he confessed quietly

"I did not wish to wake you,"

"Oh Atem.... sweetheart, you have to get over this, I'd rather wake up and help you than wake up alone and ... panic that you're not here with me anymore,"

"I'm sorry..." Atem apologized guiltily, earning a sweet nuzzling to his neck for his troubles

"Stop apologizing, it's ok," he promised, inhaling his lover's scent deeply before forcing himself to stand up straight and let go- always the hardest part of touching Atem, having to let go

"It's freezing down here, you don't have to come back upstairs but we're getting some heat in here otherwise, I bet you aren't even wearing socks,"

Socks seemed to be Atem's mortal enemy

Yugi wasn't quite sure what to blame that on

"I'm ok," Atem chuckled softly, scooping up the dog and settling her in his lap

"Well I'm not, and if Sophie and I are going to stay down here until we all get ready to go back to bed then I have to have heat,"

"You don't have to stay with me,"

"I want to,"

And it was just that simple

Yugi rounded to where the couch was facing, kissing Sophie- who they had named after Howl's Moving Castle's charector- on the head and moving to get the fireplace started

He didn't hesitate after that to grab the blanket from the back of the couch and drape it over Atem- who was, indeed, barefooted- and the pup before making his way into the kitchen

A few minutes passed, and when he reappeared, both Atem and Sophie were peering upside down over the arm of the couch waiting on him

"You two could be twins," he laughed adoringly as he carried a small tray into the living room with him

"Don't be silly aibou, I'm not _this_ cute,"

"Oh I beg to differ," Yugi grinned, sitting down on the other end of the couch and starting to unload the tray

Two glasses of chocolate milk and a plate with two doughnuts on it

He was surprised they even had doughnuts to begin with but Atem had a sweet tooth like no other and Yugi was only barely keeping it manageable

"What's this?" Atem asked curiously, shifting a little to insure Yugi had plenty of the blanket as Sophie flat-out abandoned him in favor of Yugi- or more correctly, in favor of the food

"It's .... when I had nightmares as a kid, this is what my mom used to do for me," he explained softly, leaning back against the couch and offering Atem one of the doughnuts

"... Oh," he said quietly, staring down at the pastry with a look of sadness and something akin to guilt on his face

"It's a good memory, Mou Hitori, it's ok," he promised, leaning close enough to kiss Atem's cheek

Alot of Yugi's memories had left his partner when he had left Yugi's body, not all of them, certainly, but it was as if in some ways, Atem's own memories of his childhood and his family and his life pre-puzzle had replaced Yugi's

Yugi couldn't exactly be upset about it, that was how things were supposed to be

But it did bring moments like these out more than he had ever really expected and he knew that Atem felt awkward and guilty, as if somehow it was his responsibility to keep Yugi's memories eternally and to file them all away perfectly for future referencing

Yugi was going to have to train him- in the most loving sense of the word- out of _alot_ of bad habbits

"Are you watching a shark documentary?" he asked with a small smirk, taking a bite of his doughnut as his attention finally shifted to the TV, grabbing the remote to turn the volume up to a reasonable level

"Ah... yes, did you know this .. Mega- lo-don... was the size of a bus?"

"Possibly even bigger than that, you think it's still out there?" he teased, watching Atem pick up his chocolate milk

"I think it's possible," he replied seriously

The expression on Yugi's face was entirely fond, sweet and adoring as he leaned back against his sweetheart and nodded, trying to resist the urge to giggle as he settled himself in, listening to Atem parrot back some of the information that he had just learned via what he could only assume was an old Shark Week special

His eyes only occasionally focused on the TV as he listened, mostly they found themselves falling to the fireplace, watching the bright flames lick against the logs beneath, eating away at the wood and filling the room with warmth

It was an incredibly comfortable thing, it reminded him of his childhood, of the many nights he'd woken from nightmares with his mother and they had shared these moments, of the fireplace that had endured all these many years...

Fire was a tricky thing, most of the time it was filled with nothing but bad memories for him, the terrible fear of almost losing Atem to those flames at the warehouse had never left him, it was something he practically obsessed over and his hands still sported the scars left by the puzzle's hot gold burning into his skin

But this was one occasion where it didn't represent any bad memories, it was only good, as if this fire was a different element all together

Yugi could stare at it for ages and only think of his mother, and feel the warmth of his lover around him, listening to Atem's voice rumble deep in his chest

He knew he'd have to put the fire out sooner or later so they could go back to bed, Atem was never awake long after these incidents, not once Yugi joined him anyway, and in complete honesty, neither was Yugi himself

But for as long as he could, he wanted to stay in this moment

To hear his lover's breathing, to lay with him peacefully, with their dog and their matching star-printed pajamas and the shark documentary, and just watch the fire as it burned


End file.
